A few more favorite things

Wow, it's almost like I'm not even on Spring Break with all these fun linkies to help me schedule posts. I actually wrote this on Monday during nap time, but I didn't want to post twice in a day. So here it is later in the week to keep from having too much of a lull. I get back home on Friday and plan on linking up with my Five for Friday (and probably some more cute little pictures from my break).

This week, Latoya's theme is favorite things, which I laughed about because that's what I titled last week's link-up post. Technically, last week was nouns, but they were my favorite of each category.

Favorite Place to shop

This has even become my go-to place for clothes. And now that I have a red card, I can get free shipping on any purchase I make. How cool is that?

Favorite TV show

I've talked about how much I love Big Bang that I don't think there's really anything else I can say. Best show ever. Well, after Veronica Mars, the best show that was cancelled WAY before it's time. 

Did you know they're making a movie? This is one HAPPY Marshmallow!)

Favorite Sweet Treat

This is one dessert that I just can't seem to pass up (even when I was counting every single calorie). Steven's mom likes to buy them, and I LOVE to eat them!

Favorite Food

Well honestly my favorite foods are sweets, but for an actual meal at home, I tend to love some Teriyaki Chicken. It's not too hard to make, plus I can bring it to work with me without it getting to tough when I reheat it. OR my favorite way to eat it is at a hibachi!

Favorite Restaurant

Fast food option - plus I love those cows! And for a nicer meal...

I'm a big fan of their wood-grilled steaks. There are a lot of local restaurants that I really love as well, but this chain ranks high on my list alongside them!

Title I Night

I hope everyone's Easter was fantastic! I'm on break right now and away from the computer for the most part. But I wanted to share about the activities we did for Title I Night last week.

Last Thursday, we had Title I "Night" at our school. In the past, we've always had trouble getting parents to bring their kids back out and participate (even when we invited a local author to come in the Fall, we only had 6-10 kids from our programs. Fortunately we opened that night up to the entire school and had a decent turn-out) So our K-2 specialist and I sat down and started brainstorming ways to get the attendance we desired. She had the idea of doing our activities immediately after school and then intentionally running the event past the time when activity buses leave so the parents had to come pick up their kids and meet with us, even if it was just quickly.

We sent out permission slips and ended up with the highest turn-out we've ever had (at least as far as we know of)! I had 13 of my 26 students participate and two more who tried to call their parents and stay the day of - I didn't let them because I didn't have enough supplies for them. Plus it was at the VERY end of the day. K-2 ended up with eighteen students, and we were able to talk to ALL of their parents!

Students were encouraged to dress as their favorite book character and bring pillows, blankets and sleeping bags to "read under the stars".

Here's Cinderella!

We started with some Easter eggs. Inside the eggs, I put the names of a few popular book characters (Pete the Cat, Harry Potter, etc.). 

Students chose an egg and then had to give a few clues to the rest of the group. The group could ask yes or no questions to figure out more. When they guessed correctly, they came up and chose another egg. They had a lot of fun with this activity, and it was a simple, fun way to add some eggs to our evening! I believe with the younger kids, they had sight words in the eggs that the students had to read. I wanted to adapt it to something a little more difficult since I have grades 3-5.

Then I split students into grade levels (which I needed because there were HUGE differences in maturity levels even from 3rd to 4th), and they rotated between a craft with me (keep reading for more on that), "reading under the stars", or playing this Fact and Opinion game they love on my Promethean board. The winner of that game from each grade level got to pick a book to take home for free. Our K-2 teacher was much nicer and bought a book for each child who came, but mine were happy enough with one winner from each grade level!

Moving on to the craft because this was my favorite part of the evening: I was browsing Pinterest last week for a perfect little Easter snack that they would have to assemble using some directions. Then I came across this:

Isn't it just the cutest? I knew I HAD to do it with my kids! So I adapted the recipe to make it work for me. Then I went and bought all of the supplies. I almost wish that I hadn't included a picture or title in the recipe because then they would have had to actually read all of it to know what to do. But there was at least some reading required to clear up any confusions they had because I WOULD NOT tell them what to do if they asked. They had to read the recipe first to see if it said (and it almost always did). Here's a picture of how my Bunny Buggies turned out. I'm so proud of them!

My cute little bunny buggy ahead of time

All set up ready for them to come (I couldn't find the Bunny Peeps when I went shopping)

Some of my kids finished with their craft, ready to eat it!

And if you want the recipe to use for next year, grab your copy here:

Yes, I changed the name. I liked the flow of "Bunny Buggy" more than "Easter Bunny Racecars". I like alliteration.

After centers, I found this adorable Reader's Theater for 11 students (I was supposed to have 11 when I planned activities, then two more turned in their slips last minute) with The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Scieska. We had a lot of fun with this, and I would love to practice it with a group and let them actually perform it. It was so cute!

At around 5:30, I put in Horton Hears a Who for the students to watch quietly as I began to meet with parents. I found the movie for $4 at Target. Score!

I found this wonderful resource to give to the parents, courtesy of Carrie from A First Grade Teacher's Passions and Obsessions. It even shows where students should be for their grade level at the end of each marking period. This was a great visual to give to my parents and really highlighted the growth that each child has made!

It was a busy evening, but it was a lot of fun and much more successful. Plus we were done just after 6, and I was able to see my son before he went to bed! I think this will be a new tradition (with a few tweaks) for our Title I Night!

Currently April

I wasn't planning on doing any posts except for the one I have scheduled for tomorrow since I'm on break (and down in GA with my family), but I forgot about Farley's linky. And you know this is my favorite linky! Plus everyone's napping right now, and it doesn't take long to put this one together.

Listening: Like I said, everyone's napping (well except my dad who's working on his computer, and mom's at work. Her break was last week). My parents have a grandfather clock that was passed down to it, and it's so relaxing to just listen to it tick. I don't know why. Maybe I'm just weird like that.

Loving: This was a no-brainer. I'm on break, and it's fantastic! Plus the weather is amazing down here (and at home apparently, but we're wearing shorts here). For an example of how different this week is compared to last Monday, let me give you a side-by-side of Monday and Saturday for Keagan!

 

Seriously, people. This is only 5 days apart and in the same place! VA weather is crazy!

But anyway, we drove down to GA yesterday at 2 am (because Keagan was supposed to sleep the whole way and we wanted to surprise my parents and go to church with them. We got in around 9:30, rushed to my parents house to quickly shower and change, then we made it in time for the worship service. They were so surprised (and I love a good surprise)!! I wish I'd taken a picture with all of us, but we didn't get it together. Still, doesn't Keagan look adorable in his suit?

It was a little rainy outside, so we opted for a picture by the cross. Not the most ideal backdrop, but I think we look good!

Thinking: My secret pal really outdid his/herself at work this week! I got a basket with some goodies, including a B&N gift card! Now I just have to figure out what books I want to buy. Decisions, decisions. Any recommendations?

Wanting: I didn't get enough Reese's eggs this Easter. Maybe there are still some at the grocery stores? I doubt it though. Do they make any like that for the summer months, or do I have to wait until the pumpkins start coming out for Halloween? I don't think I can survive that long! I vote a flag shaped Reese for 4th of July!

Needing: Ever since I reached my goal weight last month, I've been eating what I want and just working out. Now, I'm doing some intense workouts (on week 4 of Insanity, and I only missed yesterday out of the 24ish days I've been doing it), so I don't feel too guilty. However, I think it would help if I cut back on some sweets and made sure I was eating more fruits and veggies like I was when I was trying to lose the weight. 

Advice: This goes right along with the last two. I gained almost 50 pounds when I got pregnant last year, and it took a full year to get back down to a size I was pleased with (I did start out a little underweight, so I didn't go all the way back to pre-baby weight). Now I don't want to lose anymore, but I have some major belly fat. I'm scared that I'm fighting genetics, but I'm busting my butt trying to get fit. If I had not sat around and eaten everything in sight (or at least got up and walked some while I was pregnant instead of being so lazy), I think this would have been a much easier journey. I'm determined that next time around I will be more prepared. 

Sorry that NONE of this post had anything to do with teaching, but I'm on break and don't want to think about teaching. Come back tomorrow for tons of ideas, and go link up with Farley right now!

Five for Friday and a Sale

I feel like I actually had enough going on this week to join in on this fun linky, plus I won't be posting as frequently next week (thinking of scheduling at least one post though) because it's my SPRING BREAK!!

1. We had our Title I Night last night, and it went well. This will be another post that I am scheduling for next week (Tuesday?) because I have a lot to say about how we structured it. However, I will leave you with one picture of my favorite activity from the night. Check back to get the recipe that we used (since it was a reading night) and learn more!

2. One of my third grade classes that I work with has had a student teacher for the past few months (today was her last day). Last week, we had a book fair and she decided she wanted to buy some books for someone. Since her teacher and daughter's teacher had already had their wishlist fulfilled, she bought two books for me! It was so sweet of her, especially since I'm not a regular classroom!

       

Oh, and one of my sweet fourth grade students brought me a yummy chocolate bunny this morning because yes, we still had a full day today. I'm a little jealous of you teachers who got to start your break on Good Friday. 

I might have eaten it right after he walked out the door. Hey, I'm justifying it with my Insanity workout, although this might be part of the reason why I'm not seeing any results yet. At least I feel stronger, but the whole point was to lose some inches in the waist so my pants fit right.

3. Speaking of gifts, I got this sweet Easter basket complete with a Barnes and Noble gift card from my secret pal at school. SO excited! I knew I saved the email with a B&N coupon for a reason. Time to go shopping!

4. Tuesday and Wednesday of this week were Writing SOLs (Virginia's Standards of Learning since we didn't jump on the bandwagon and go to CCSS) for our 5th graders. This year was the first year that they did everything online including the prompt. It actually went better than we had anticipated, but the importance of teaching them how to type essays appropriately is that much more of a priority. I know they're glad it's over. Only 5 weeks after break before the rest of the SOLs start. EEK!!

5. I'm joining in with some other bloggers and having a sale at my TPT store! I chose five of my favorite products that will be 20% off through Sunday. 

Here are the items I chose. Click on the images below to find them, and I wouldn't mind if you wanted to pin them as well. ;-)

Have a great Easter weekend, and enjoy your Spring Break if you're starting it like me!

Earth Day fun

Today was day two of the writing SOL for 5th grade at our school, and I was helping monitor the bathrooms since we can only have one boy or girl in the bathroom at a time during testing. At least I had a laptop to work on today (or browse blogs, Pinterest, and TPT - hey, it's professional development) because this was the long part! I don't know how writing tests go in other states, but Virginia has a multiple choice section (we did that yesterday) and then a writing prompt. This year, it's ALL online, so they had to type their prompt, which didn't take quite as long as I thought it would. By lunch at 12:15, the two classes that I was monitoring were mostly done. I had a chance to start my Earth Day mystery, and I was able to finish it during planning before I got my one afternoon group. All the others were cancelled today because of testing.

TN or TPT

I used graphics from Krista's store, Creative Clips. Her Earth day pack (and others for that matter) are so cute and colorful. She's become one of my new favorites!

Only two more days before Spring Break is here. I cannot wait!! This girl is ready to sleep in and relax some (although I'll still be doing Insanity for another 40-something days, unless I decide to be a quitter at 30. I'm on day 19 right now, and this waking up at 4:30 to do intense workout is killing me).

Tried it Tuesday - Reading Conferences

I'm so excited to join Holly in her very first of a series of linky parties:

With this linky, you share any"thing" that you have tried, either personal or professionally, and how it worked for you. It could have been a success or a complete flop. For my very first "Tried it", I want to share about CAFE and how I've made it work in a non-traditional setting.

For those of you who are not familiar with CAFE, it's from the sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) who created Daily 5. This is a companion program.

Daily 5 lays out what students should be doing while the teacher is working with other students. CAFE is the guideline for the teacher's instruction. It stands for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary. Under each heading, there are a list of strategies that students can use to help them gain mastery. The whole point is that the teacher holds individual conferences with students where they read a book ON THEIR LEVEL and work on the different strategies. Each students has a goal and works toward mastering one skill at a time. There's so much more to it, and I highly recommend getting a copy of the book to learn more. The program is fantastic!

Anyway, when we started this last year, I was quite pregnant and did my best to jump in wholeheartedly, but let's face it. Trying something new when you're going out on maternity leave in a few months doesn't really work that well. I came back in February and tried to get it really going again, but then it was a huge push toward preparing for tests. We sort of made it work, but most of my intentions stayed just that. Intentions.

At the end of the year, I learned that I would be moving to Title I as the reading specialist for grades 3-5. I put my CAFE board together and made my little gigantic notebook for conferences. For most of the year, it just sat there. I was meeting with students, but most of it was being done in a small group setting, and I just didn't have much to write. After Christmas, I decided it was time to get serious. I threw out the old sheet and made things as simple as possible for myself. Then I made it pretty! You can download the form for FREE here! Just please make sure to leave me some positive feedback.

With this sheet, I just quickly fill in what the student is reading, what we've been working on, and what I feel we need to focus on for next time. If I meet with them for a running record, I quickly jot down what letter I'm reading with them, their accuracy percentage and number of correctly answered comprehension questions. Then I put if they are instructional, independent, or frustrational. That way I have a quick reference to look at when it's time to retest them. I wish that I had kept up with this more throughout the year because it's helped a lot. I can see an exact date when I last met with each student and decide quickly who I need to read with and who can wait a little longer.

If you're not doing individual conferences with your kids, I challenge you to give it a try. I know it's easier to just meet with them in a small group, but you really can accomplish most of these meetings in about 5 minutes and quickly move from one kid to another. The only time it takes me longer is when I'm doing running records. Still I can get through most of those in about 15 minutes!

Now go check out Holly's blog for more ideas that teachers are trying out. See if any catch your eye!

Then go and Follow my blog with Bloglovin. All the cool kids are doing it! ;-)

A few of my favorite things

Let me just start by saying that I'm so glad it's not my Spring Break yet. Why? Because this is what happened yesterday:

And it didn't stop falling until sometime this morning. We got around 3-4 inches, so today was a SNOW DAY!! If I had been on break, it would have been a waste. Instead, I got to take my little man out to play before taking him over to the sitter so I could get some cleaning done. My goal is to keep the house fairly clean so we can just go on Sunday. We're heading down to GA to see my family, and I'm SO excited!

It's time for another Let's Get Acquainted with Latoya. This week we're talking about our favorite person, place, thing, and animal.

Person

I love my little goober! He's growing so much, and I cherish every minute I get to spend with him! Keagan is ALL boy and into everything. He loves to chase the dogs, stand in his rocking chair, eat his weight in honeycombs, watermelon, and hot dogs, and so much more! This morning, I had to go through his clothes and take out ALL of his remaining 12 month items because they're too short. He's going to be a tall little boy!

Place

I love Charleston! It has all of the perks of Savannah, but it has a little more life to it. There's tons of great places to eat, shopping on King Street (I could spend a fortune there), history, and beautiful beaches nearby! Steven and I try to stop through frequently coming and going from Savannah to Richmond.

Thing

I had no idea what to put for thing, so I started thinking of something that I couldn't live without. That seemed too boring, so I decided to go with something fun. I LOVE clothes and shopping, and I can't wait for the weather to be warm again so I can start wearing all of my dresses. It was hard to choose which dress is actually my favorite (and it constantly changes - actually I just bought my Easter dress Saturday that I'm in love with), but this has been one of my top picks the longest. Steven let me fall in love with Lilly Pulitzer a few years ago, specifically a $300 dress that we couldn't afford. So I went searching for a cheaper dress that made me feel as good. This Anthropologie find was perfect (still expensive, but not anywhere near $300)! Wish I had a good, non-sunburned picture, but that's the life of a redhead!

Animal(s)

 

Top: Rudy (almost 3 years ago), Bottom: John (last summer)

I couldn't possibly pick between the two. We got these two as puppies three years ago after our sweet Copper passed away too quickly (We rescued him and thought he was much younger than he actually was. He died after only 1 year of us having him. Apparently he'd been sick all along.) My heart couldn't take another quick loss, so we began the search. I NEVER had intentions of getting two, and I definitely didn't plan on having dogs over 30 pounds. We were looking for a small beagle. John and Rudy were the last two of their litter. Mom had been a 19 lb beagle, so they looked perfect. I fell in love with both of them almost instantly. I have to admit that I had MAJOR doubts when the vet laughed at 30 pounds and told us they'd be 60 lbs each, easily. But they grew with me, and I couldn't imagine not having them both now. Plus Keagan adores them (especially John). I almost posted a picture of him hugging John, but I liked this picture better. I need to take more pictures of them, though!

Alright, I'm going to finish cleaning before Steven gets back home with my little man! Maybe we can even do something fun tonight!